Uvas Canyon County Park

South of San Francisco, you and your frisky pup have more velvety-green hills to wander in spring. Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve in the hills above San Carlos and Redwood City is one option that really sets tails a-waggin'. Off-leash play is allowed in a 17-acre parcel of this 366-acre San Mateo County preserve that was once the site of a tuberculosis sanitarium. All five miles of trails are dog-friendly, and on clear days you'll get a good view of the Santa Cruz Mountains. more »

In the wake of a good spring drenching, the Uvas Canyon Waterfall Loop Trail near Morgan Hill in the South Bay’s Santa Cruz Mountains rewards with easy footing and sights to put a smile on your face and a wag on Scout’s tail. more »

Despite this year’s scant rainfall, waterfalls are once again flowing in Northern California, and you don’t want to miss the show. Cataract Falls on the north slope of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County is probably the best-known waterfall in the Bay Area, and for good reason. It gets really big after a spring rain, sprouting up to nine silvery cascades, some more than 50 feet high, plunging purposefully down the Cataract Creek streambed. The surrounding forest, with its moss- and lichen-covered rocks, ferny ground cover, gnarly oaks and sentinel redwoods, can seem an enchanted place, especially just after a rain. more »